Temporarily Nameless
by Soradanomi
Summary: Just when Takeru thought he knew exactly where his life was going, everything was turned upside down and he had to start all over again.
1. Chapter 1

Takeru sat by the window and stared at the snow-covered night. He tried to understand the tangled web that called itself his life. Just one month ago he had been living on Cloud Nine. His life had been perfect. And now he sat home alone wishing he didn't have to think about it anymore. But he did have to think about it. It was impossible not to.

He had taken his girlfriend Kasumi to an expensive restaurant for their three-year anniversary. Their relationship was going places, he just knew it. They were graduating at the end of the school year and he planned to propose that night. He knew they'd be at different universities, but that was only for a few years. Then they'd have the rest of their lives together. Marriage obviously wasn't first on his list of things to do as a senior in high school; he just wanted to kind of reserve her. Unfortunately for Takeru, Kasumi didn't see that far into the future. She ended it with him down on one knee. What was supposed to be the greatest moment of his life turned into the most embarrassing, with all the eyes of the people around focused on them. Kasumi left and Takeru sat on the ground dumbfounded for a good five minutes before a kindhearted man in his thirties set him in his chair and brought him back to reality. He left way more money on the table than was needed for the check and went home and cried enough to drown a fish with his tears.

What had followed was just plain pitiful. He had almost no contact with his friends for the next month. After school he just went home and sat in his room. Daisuke was just getting fed up of being turned down when trying to get Takeru back into the real world. He couldn't just mope in his room forever. This, of course, is where the story picks up.

Takeru's thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.

Again.

And again.

And again. "Hold on, I'm coming!" Takeru yelled so the person on the other side of the door could hear him. He wasn't expecting anybody to come over, especially with his mom working into the morning. But the night was young at 8:30 so it could be any number of people broken down in the snow, looking to borrow a cup of sugar, trying to score some black-tar heroin; the list could go on forever. He was loathe to see Daisuke glaring back at him when he opened the door, no doubt there to get Takeru to get out of the apartment and do something.

"Do you know how cold it is out there?" Daisuke asked angrily, acting as though he had been standing outside for days on end while Takeru leisurely strolled to the door. Takeru shrugged in half-apology and moved out of the way as Daisuke stepped in and shook off the mountain of snow covering him.

"So what brings you here tonight? Come to try to get me to go to some party?"

"Not just any party, man," Daisuke began, taking off his toboggan and exposing his now-flattened brown hair, "a party with college girls."

Takeru groaned.

"And just what is that supposed to mean? You can't just sit in this apartment forever."

"Watch me."

"Takeru, will you _please _realize that you had no future with that girl anyway? She practically hated you! The only reason the two of you were dating is because you bought her things."

Takeru just stared at the ground. Daisuke shifted gears a bit, changing angles, trying to find something that would get through to him. "Hikari's worried about you. You haven't said a word to her in weeks. You're best friends, you're supposed to tell her everything. She misses you, man… Do it for her at the very least. So are you coming to this party or not?" Takeru lifted his head to look at Daisuke for a few seconds before returning his gaze to the ground.

"Man, I dunno…" Takeru trailed off, a respectable feat considering he had barely begun in the first place.

"Just think, dude…" Daisuke wrapped his arm around Takeru's shoulders, leaned in close and extended his arm, motioning to an imaginary horizon. "These girls are back from _college_. They're only here for the break. After that, they're gone. Find one, have some fun and move on. No commitment." Daisuke lowered his arm and turned his head toward Takeru, their faces mere inches apart. Takeru kept facing the "horizon" to keep it from getting too awkward. "Now, are you going to be a man and come with me or are you going to sit here playing with your dick all night?"

Takeru tilted his head back and sighed. "Fine, I'll come."

Daisuke laughed and slapped his friend on the back. "I bet you will."

Takeru shook his head and opened the door. "Come on, let's go so I can freeze to death in the cold, winter night."

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As they approached the house in which the party was located, Daisuke felt compelled to lay down the rules of engagement for the night. "Remember, we're college students, too. These girls don't want any high schoolers. I already told Taichi and the others not to talk to us."

"I wouldn't trust him, Daisuke. He'll take any chance he can get to embarrass you."

"Nah, not tonight. I took care of it." Takeru was skeptical but accepted it anyway.

"And what about Yamato? I know he'll do anything to make me feel awkward."

"I doubt he'll even be there. He just broke up with Sora, remember? He's not going to want to be anywhere around her. Man, you really need to pay more attention to other people's lives."

"You have all the answers, Daisuke. I just hope you're right." Takeru stopped and rang the doorbell as they reached the door.

Daisuke spread his arms in an exaggerated shrug. "When have I ever been wrong?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

But before Daisuke could respond, the door opened and they were greeted by an older girl with red hair down to her shoulders. She looked at them quizzically for a moment before remembering: "Oh, yeah. Taichi said you guys might show up. Think you can pull off the part of college boys?"

Daisuke was all too confident. "Please, just watch the master go to work," he said as he pushed past his now-grinning hostess and made his way into the party.

Takeru stepped inside and closed the door. "Sora, how did I let him talk me into this?"

The older girl shoved her hands in her pockets and took a deep breath. "I guess because even though you think you should be totally distraught still and not be seen in public for years to come, there's a part of you that knows he's at least somewhat right. You need to get back out there and find someone that loves you for who you are. You never know, maybe that person has been right under your nose for the longest time." Takeru looked at her, a questioning look etched onto his face, but she just walked away.

_Man, what am I doing here?,_ Takeru thought to himself as he took in his surrounding. Daisuke's words came back into his mind. _'Do it for Hikari.'_ He could do that. Hopefully.

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"And so I said, 'Hey, douchebag, watch where you're going!' He turned around and gave me this look like –"

"Motomiya, what the hell are you talking about?" An older voice interrupted him. Daisuke's eyes grew wide when he saw whose voice it was. That voice was one that wasn't supposed to be speaking to him all night. But he tried to play it cool anyway.

"Oh, hey, Taichi, I was just telling Ayame here about the time this guy bumped into me on the subway and –"

"— And you bitched for an hour about how he stepped on your little toe? Yeah, great story." Ayame smiled seductively at Taichi and flicked her shining red hair behind her shoulder. Who was this _gorgeous_ man that could control the mighty Daisuke? But apparently he wasn't in any sort of mood. "Go on, shoo!" She frowned and stomped off angrily.

Daisuke looked as though Taichi had just bitten his little kitten's head off and swallowed it whole. "Dude, what is your problem? I thought we had a deal?"

"Yeah, the deal was you get Takeru back into the real world. Him sitting on the floor in the corner by himself trying to catch peanuts in his mouth doesn't count."

Daisuke put his hands on his hips and stared at the ground for a moment, obviously frustrated. He looked back at Taichi idealess. "I don't know what else to do, man. I managed to get him here, that has to count for something."

"Well, try to loosen him up. Figure something out or the word 'party' will haunt for the rest of your life." His threat received, Taichi walked back into the other room to continue _his _version of showing people how the Master does it.

Daisuke crossed his arms and thought. _Loosen him up? That guy's about as loose as… well, something that's not very loose anyway. Man, I really need to come up with better similes… Anyway…_ He looked around the room for inspiration. And that's when he saw it: a group of guys in the other room doing sake shots, with Ayame right there cheering them on, beautiful red hair and all.. And evil grin crept across his face. Two birds with one stone.

"Oi! Takaishi!" Startled, Takeru missed his peanut. He lost his balance as it hit him in the eye and he fell over backwards. Daisuke winced and ran over to his injured friend.

Takeru got to his feet and rubbed his eye, glaring at Daisuke with the other. "Gee, scare the crap out of me, why don't you?"

"Don't mention it," Daisuke could hardly keep in his excitement and satisfaction with his new idea. "Come on, I have a great way to loosen you up."

"What is it?" Takeru asked wearily.

"Just follow me."

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"This is your great idea?"

"And just what's not so great about it? You need a way to loosen up a little and forget about some things." Daisuke was hurt at the suggestion of his idea being anything less than genius.

"I need to forget about the past, not everything that happens tonight. Sorry, but no thanks." Takeru tried to walk away, but Daisuke grabbed his shoulder and spun him back around.

"Takaishi, you're never going to get out of this cycle if you don't loosen up. Now sit down and have some sake."

"I dunno, man…" But Daisuke could tell he was breaking him.

In one final move towards victory, Daisuke picked up the sake bottle and held it in front of his face. Using a cheesy, childish voice, he said, "Please, Takeru-san, drink me. I taste _really_ good, I promise! I'll make you forget about _all_ your worries."

"Okay, fine." Takeru caved. Daisuke smiled and poured some out. Takeru took the white cup hesitantly. "Well… Bottoms up!"

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**And so you have it, the first chapter of the story. All of these chapters are "hot off the press" so to speak, so they might not be perfect. I might go back and edit them later on. The names for the chapters and the story itself will come after I'm finished. Please review. I can't stress enough how good feedback is. Please tell me if you liked it, if you didn't, why or why not… Or maybe just that you read it. It's never fun to post a story if you don't think anybody's reading it. So please give me feedback and I'll give you a story. Thank you.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Before you read this chapter, you might need to go back and read chapter 1 again. I updated in on 10-13-06, so if the first time you read it was on or before that day, there's new stuff there. Not a whole lot word-wise, but a lot of plot set up for this chapter (and a little bit of changing boring sentence structure). And just so you know, character's thoughts are in italics. I think I also put them in single quotes in the last chapter, but I won't from now on._

The morning sun poured through the windows and spilled onto Takeru's face. His body hadn't had nearly enough rest and his subconscious instinctively grabbed for the pillow beside him to block out his evil foe; but the pillow groaned in protest of his actions and rolled out of his reach.

Wait… what?

Takeru bolted upright, his eyes wide. He looked around the room. Where was he? This certainly wasn't his room. He noticed his brain trying to pound its way out of his head and wished he had been a little lighter on the alcohol the night before.

The night before… He couldn't remember it at all. Daisuke had tried to loosen him up with some sake, but… how much did he have? The last thing he remembered was Ayame sitting on his lap, refilling his cup for a third time, her voluminous red hair tickling his face and filling his nostrils with the scent of her strawberry shampoo.

Getting out of bed, Takeru realized he was naked. _That **can't** be good. _Then it hit him: the moaning pillow. He spun around and his horrors were confirmed. Sticking out from under the covers was a mass of red hair. He put on his clothes as fast as he could and ran out of the room.

At the bottom of the stairs he found Daisuke talking to a guy Takeru had never seen before. Or, at least, he thought he had never seen him before. This thought was totally contradicted, however, when the youth greeted Takeru as if he were an old friend he hadn't seen in years.

"Aha! My man, Tacky Mack! We were wondering when you would get up. It's almost one-thirty, dude." He leaned in a little closer and nudged Takeru in the side with his elbow. "Man, did you get your game on last night or _what_? I tell you, man, I could sure use a few pointers if you ever get the chance."

_Oh great, I turned into Daisuke last night,_ Takeru groaned inwardly. That was the last thing he needed. Sure, Daisuke was cool and all, but he didn't have much respect for the opposite sex. Of course, he had no idea what had really happened the night before. He could guess by his location when he woke, but that wasn't necessarily the only stupid thing he had done. He had never been drunk before, and frankly, he was a little frightened by the thought of how could have acted. Sure, he was a sensible guy. But all those stupid things he didn't do were a result of his finely honed inhibitions. Without those, there's no telling what he could be possible of.

Apparently Takeru had quite the horrified look on his face because the boy he didn't know slapped his arm to get his attention. "Hey, Earth to Oh-Masterful-One. Something wrong?"

Takeru snapped out of it and looked at him. "I'm sorry, but who the hell _are _you?"

Laughing nervously, Daisuke put his arm around Takeru's shoulder and lead him into the other room. He looked over his shoulder and apologized to the mystery man, "Sorry, he's just a bit hung over." The two of them walked over to a couch and sat down. Takeru put his face in his hands and sighed.

"Daisuke, what the hell happened last night?"

Daisuke sat on the opposite side of the couch, leaning against the arm and facing his friend. Sounding a little more surprised than he should have, he said, "You don't remember anything?" The blonde boy met his gaze with a look of pure helplessness of his face. "Well… you got really drunk…" He paused for a second, looking away to chuckle awkwardly. His eyes returned to Takeru's and he realized that this was no time for jokes. "Apparently, Ayame ended up convincing you to down thirteen sake shots. Frankly, I didn't think you'd make it that far. She seemed way more interested in you than me so I left after about number three or I would've stopped you. Kei in there told me most of what happened. All I actually saw was you going upstairs at about three in the morning with –"

" – Yeah, I know about that," Takeru interrupted him. "Talk about a way to wake up. But I'd like to forget it if at all possible."

"Okay, fair enough. But let me just say that I never saw it coming. I mean, you and her?"

Takeru was a little offended by this. Sure, he was a little square, but he could get a girl if he wanted. "Sure, me and her! Why not?"

"Whoa, down, boy. She just doesn't seem like your type."

"Oh… Well, that would probably be the fault of thirteen shots of sake."

"Yeah, I guess so." Daisuke stood up and motioned for his friend to do the same. "Come on, let's go back to my place. You look totally trashed. I know you don't want your mom to see you like this."

His mother. Great. He hadn't told her he was going out. He hadn't left a note or anything. Which meant she probably had every available police officer scouring the city for her kidnapped son. Takeru's head went back, his eyes to the ceiling. "Dammit…"

"No problems, bro, I called last night and left her a message that you were at my place. So you're good as long as she doesn't go looking for you."

Takeru let out a sigh of relief as they walked towards the door of the house. "Man, you really are a life saver."

"Don't mention it. I feel like I kind of owe you one after talking you into the sake."

Luckily, Kei wasn't still standing in the hall as they were leaving. The first thing on Takeru's to-do list for the day, after "stop feeling like I was just put through a giant garbage disposal," of course, was to get the full details of his actions after he got hammered (as told by Kei and retold by Daisuke).

Daisuke grabbed a pair of sunglasses off of a boy that was passed out on the floor and handed them to his friend, who was immediately grateful as they stepped outside.

They walked towards the bus stop in silence, neither knowing what to say at a time like this. Takeru's brain chugged along, trying to process everything he knew while dealing with his hangover at the same time. So apparently he'd gotten incredibly drunk, done something to gain the highest respect of some random guy he'd never seen before, and slept with a rather promiscuous girl he'd probably never see again; although the last two very well might be the same. But the worst part was not being able to remember any of it. Takeru accepted the fact that he couldn't change what happened; however, he was having trouble accepting the fact that he had no memory of one of the most important events of his life.


End file.
